The Nation

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The former president of the nation’s largest diesel fuel retailer wants to fire his trial lawyer now that he’s been convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The Knoxville News Sentinel reported Tuesday that former Pilot Flying J President Mark Hazelwood is seeking to fire and replace Texas attorney Rusty Hardin, who led his defense team. Hazelwood is expected to face sentencing in August. Hazelwood’s new lawyer, Brad Henry, says Hardin performed badly throughout the trial and failed to file a motion for a new trial. Hazelwood was convicted in a scheme to shortchange trucking companies they lured with promises of fuel discounts. Pilot Flying J is controlled by the family of Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam. Neither have been charged with wrongdoing.  

WASHINGTON — U.S. employers extended a streak of solid hiring in May, adding 223,000 jobs and helping lower the unemployment rate to an 18-year low of 3.8 percent from 3.9 percent in April. Trucking added jobs, too, 6,200 from April to May, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The jobless rate for black Americans tumbled to 5.9 percent from 6.6 percent in April. May’s figure marks the second straight month that the rate has hit a record low in government records dating to 1972. The unemployment rate for Asian Americans fell to 2.1 percent, the lowest level since record-keeping began in 2003. Average hourly pay rose 2.7 percent from a year earlier, a slightly faster annual rate than in April, the Labor Department reported Friday. But pay growth remains below levels that are typical when the unemployment rate is this low. Still, the report shows that the nearly 9-year old economic expansion — the second-longest on record — remains on track. Employers appear to be shrugging off recent concerns about global trade disputes. Roughly an hour before the employment data was released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, President Donald Trump appeared to hint on Twitter that a strong jobs report was coming. “Looking forward to seeing the employment numbers at 8:30 this morning,” he tweeted. The president is normally briefed on the monthly jobs report the day before it is publicly released, and he and other administration officials are not supposed to comment on it beforehand. Larry Kudlow, the president’s top economic adviser, defended Trump’s tweet in an interview on CNBC, saying that it followed “law and custom.” “I don’t think he gave anything away, incidentally,” Kudlow said. Friday’s report showed that hiring in the United States is benefiting a wider range of Americans: The unemployment rate for high school graduates reached 3.9 percent, a 17-year low. “The economy and labor market appear to be firing on all cylinders, with all sectors showing strength,” said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics. Investors applauded the report. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 221 points, or 0.9 percent. Other indexes also moved higher. The healthy jobs data makes it more likely that the Federal Reserve will keep raising interest rates this year — at least twice more and possibly three more times, after having raised its key rate in March. Traders now put the likelihood of four rate hikes for 2018 at about one-third, up from one-quarter on Thursday. With the jobless rate so low, employers have complained for months about the difficulty of finding workers to fill jobs. The number of open positions reached a record high in March. Friday’s report suggests that some companies are making extra efforts to find people. For example, the number of part-time workers who would prefer full-time jobs declined slightly and is down 6 percent from a year ago. That may mean that businesses are converting some part-timers to full-time work. Companies are also hiring the long-term unemployed — those who have been out of work for six months or longer. Their ranks have fallen by nearly one-third in the past year. That’s important because economists worry that people who are out of work for long periods can see their skills erode. Yet employers now seem more willing to hire them. The unemployment rate, rounded to one decimal, is the lowest since April 2000. But the unrounded figure is 3.75 percent. That is the lowest since 1969, some economists note. Debbie Thomas, owner of Thomas Hill Organics, a restaurant in Paso Robles, California, said that finding enough qualified people to hire is her biggest challenge right now. She has raised pay by about a dollar an hour in the past year for cooks and dishwashers but is reluctant to boost wages much higher. The more-expensive organic food she uses also adds to her costs. “You don’t want to price yourself out of the market,” Thomas said. The job gains in May were broad-based: Professional and business services, which includes higher-paying fields such as accounting and engineering, added 31,000 jobs. Health care, a consistent job engine for the entire recovery, gained nearly 32,000. Manufacturing, which is benefiting from increased business investment in machinery and other equipment, added 18,000 jobs, and construction 25,000. Some economists remain concerned that the Trump administration’s aggressive actions on trade could hamper growth. The administration on Thursday imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from key allies in Europe, Canada and Mexico. Earlier in the week, it threatened to hit China with tariffs on $50 billion of its goods. While the tariffs themselves would likely have only a scant direct impact on the economy, ongoing uncertainty about which trading partners and which goods might be hit next could disrupt some companies’ expansion plans. For now, the solid hiring data coincides with other evidence that the economy is on firm footing after a brief slowdown in the first three months of the year. The economy grew at a modest 2.2 percent annual rate in the January-March quarter, after three quarters that had averaged roughly 3 percent. But consumers have started to spend more freely, after having pulled back in the January-March quarter. That gain could reflect in part the effect of the Trump administration’s tax cuts, which might be encouraging more Americans to step up spending. Consumer spending rose in April at its fastest pace in five months. Companies are spending more on industrial machinery, computers and software — signs that they’re optimistic enough about future growth to expand their capacity. A measure of business investment rose in the first quarter by the most in 3½ years. That investment growth has been spurred partly by higher oil prices, which have encouraged the construction of more drilling rigs. Macroeconomic Advisers, a forecasting firm, says it now foresees the economy expanding at a robust 4 percent annual pace in the April-June quarter, which would be the fastest in nearly four years. That is up from its forecast last week of less than a 3 percent rate for the current quarter.  

California utilities will invest nearly $768 million to expand a network of charging stations and build other infrastructure for electric vehicles as the state moves toward a goal of five million zero-emission cars on the roads by 2030, The Associated Press reports. The California Public Utilities Commission voted 5-0 Thursday to pay for programs statewide over the next five years, with an emphasis on establishing facilities in disadvantaged communities where traffic and air pollution are often heaviest. The funding includes $136 million by San Diego Gas & Electric Co. to provide rebates for as many as 60,000 customers to install home charging stations. Pacific Gas and Electric will build 230 direct current fast-charging stations, for a total of nearly $22.5 million. And Southern California Edison will outlay $343 million for the electrification of almost 8,500 medium- and heavy-duty vehicles including work trucks and construction equipment. “If we’re successful with this and other electrification efforts already underway, much of the nation will likely follow California’s lead, and together we will make a difference in the fight against climate change,” said CPUC Commissioner Carla J. Peterman. The utilities initially asked for $1 billion to implement the projects. After a series of workshops and hearings, the CPUC decided on a budget of approximately $738 million, with an additional $29.5 million for program evaluation. The overall plan is the result of a 2016 CPUC order directing utilities to submit applications proposing projects aimed at accelerating transportation electrification across all sectors, from light-duty passenger cars to medium- and heavy-duty fleet, transit and freight vehicles. The utilities did not immediately have estimates for whether the projects would increase monthly bills for its customers. Gov. Jerry Brown in January outlined a $2.5 billion proposal to help Californians buy electric vehicles as part of a long-term plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Currently there are about 350,000 zero-emission vehicles on California roads; Brown wants that number to grow 15-fold over the next dozen years. The Democratic governor has positioned California as a global leader in fighting climate change amid President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord, the AP story said.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced Thursday new regulatory guidance clarifying the 150 air-miles Hours of Service (HOS) agricultural commodity exemption, as well as providing additional explanatory detail of the “personal conveyance” provision. “Due to input from commercial vehicle stakeholders and the public, the department has taken steps to provide greater clarity and flexibility regarding the intent and effect of these regulations for the agricultural and other sectors,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao. The guidance clarifies the exception on several points: drivers operating unladen vehicles traveling either to pick up an agricultural commodity or returning from a delivery point; drivers engaged in trips beyond 150 air-miles from the source of the agricultural commodity; determining the “source” of agricultural commodities under the exemptions; and how the exception applies when agricultural commodities are loaded at multiple sources during a trip. This regulatory guidance is issued to ensure consistent understanding and application of the exception by motor carriers and state officials enforcing HOS rules identical to or compatible with FMCSA’s requirements. FMCSA published Federal Register notices proposing regulatory guidance for the transportation of agricultural commodities and the use of personal conveyance in December 2017 and requested public comment. FMCSA in a news release stated the agency is providing clarity on the use of the agricultural exemption and personal conveyance to both industry and law enforcement along with providing as much flexibility as possible for the industry, while maintaining safety. “We are dedicated to finding effective solutions to challenges, exploring new opportunities for innovation and constantly seeking ways to improve,” said FMCSA Administrator Raymond Martinez. Nearly 850 public comments were submitted to the Federal Register dockets on the proposed guidance pertaining to the transportation of agricultural commodities and to the personal conveyance provision. The new regulatory guidance is presented in a question-and-answer format and explains the 150 air-mile radius agricultural commodity exemption and how the source of the commodity is determined.  For a copy of this guidance, click here. The new regulatory guidance also outlines and includes numerous examples of under what circumstances a commercial motor vehicle driver may operate the truck or bus for personal conveyance. For a copy of this guidance, click here.    

    Diesel prices continued to move upward this week, but not by as much as the last two weeks. Whereas in the past two weeks the on-highway national average moved up by 6 or 7 cents a gallon, Tuesday’s report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed an uptick of only 1.1 cent a gallon, holding the national average at $3.288. The report usually comes out Monday but the long Memorial Day weekend pushed it to Tuesday. All but one of the EIA’s 10 reporting regions showed slight increases and the Gulf Coast — which usually has the lowest diesel in the country — went down by 1 tenth of 1 percent to $3.054, again the lowest total. California diesel is set to jump to $4, coming in at $3.997 after having made the most gain from last week — 2.4 cents a gallon. In contrast, the West Coast Less California ($3.514) and Lower Atlantic ($3.174) sectors each went up only 1.1 cent a gallon. To see diesel prices by region click here. Meanwhile, an international economic watchdog says threatened new trade barriers and rising oil prices could hurt long-awaited global economic growth, The Associated Press reported. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said today that “the threat of trade restrictions has begun to adversely affect confidence” and tariffs “would negatively influence investment and jobs.” The Paris-based agency made its forecast as President Donald Trump’s administration threatens tariffs or other limits on foreign steel and cars. Other countries have threatened retaliatory trade barriers. The OECD also said persistently high oil prices could push up inflation and push down household incomes.  

Supply chain panelists called for more infrastructure investment at a Global Supply Chain Summit May 22, the Journal of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials reported. At the 6th annual Global Supply Chain Summit hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on May 22, a variety of speakers stressed the need for better transportation infrastructure and funding in order to improve U.S. supply chain operations and make the U.S. more competitive economically, the Journal stated. Darrell Wilson, assistant vice president for government relations at Norfolk Southern, highlighted the road blocks project permitting and other issues are causing while David Blaisdell, vice president of P3 and financial services for global construction firm Bechtel Corp., said, in Germany and Canada it takes no more than two years for project approval but it can’t be done in less than four years in U.S., according to the Journal. Blaisdell also stressed the need for a “bolder, more visionary pipeline” of transportation projects – and that he’s seeing more of them coming from states and municipalities now. “We’re seeing a focus on ‘high value’ projects versus lowest cost projects in terms of roads, rail, bridges, and some airports,” he said. “We’re seeing a lot of new passenger rail upgrades in certain areas and new terminals at airports around the country.” Belinda Constant, Mayor of the City of Gretna, Louisiana, said not enough is being done when it comes to surface transportation needs in the U.S. “The bottom line is we don’t want to be at a point 10 years from now where we didn’t do what we needed to do,” she said, adding that “It’s about the money. We all need the money for rail, port, and waterway improvements, etc., and we need to get Washington to do it in a holistic way. The public expects an answer. The time is now to do that. I’m an elected official so I feel I can say that.” Thomas Donohue, president and CEO for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, suggested that such “struggling” needs to end if the U.S. is to retain its “competitive edge” in the global market. “Infrastructure links businesses and is the backbone of the global supply chain. If it is in bad shape, like it is in our country, the supply chain suffers,” he said, in the Journal. “We need to take better steps here at home if we want to stay competitive in the global economy. We need more investment in our infrastructure. It’s time to invest in a 21st century infrastructure system to support and grow a 21st century economy; no more kicking the can down the road … ”

WASHINGTON — A new VNL 760 (shown) and a Volvo VNR 640 led a motorcade from the plant to Washington, D.C. this past weekend during the annual Ride for Freedom, which honors the men and women who have served — and continue to serve — to protect America. Employees at Volvo Trucks’ New River Valley (NRV) assembly plant in Dublin, Virginia, unveiled the 2018 Ride for Freedom truck featuring the new VNL 760. The tractor, accompanied by the custom-designed Volvo VNR 640, led more than 150 motorcycles from the plant to Washington, D.C. during the annual “Run for the Wall” Ride for Freedom motorcycle rally Memorial Day weekend. This year marks 27 years of NRV employee and the UAW Local 2069 Veteran Committee support of the Ride for Freedom event, now in its 31st year. The custom-designed graphics on the VNL 760 long-haul tractor honor America’s military heroes of all branches with the slogan, “All gave some, some gave all … some still give.”

WASHINGTON — Thirty members of the U.S. Senate have sent a letter to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Administrator Ray Martinez asking the agency to “explore improvements” in the Hours of Service regulations that would ensure drivers across differing businesses and operations can safely and efficiently comply with such requirements. The letter was sent on the letterhead of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, although several signees are not on that committee. The first signature was that of Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., who is chairman of the committee. The letter was signed by both Republicans and Democrats although the committee’s ranking member, Bill Nelson of Florida, did not sign. The senators told Martinez that it had become more apparent that HOS rules do not provide the appropriate level of flexibility for the safe operation of commercial motor vehicles, and that because the trucking industry provides for over 3 million jobs in the U.S., and because the industry is the “backbone” of the country’s economy, it is important that HOS regulations provide for a commonsense framework for drivers, rather than a one-size-fits-all model. “We suggest FMCSA examine a wide range of options to address HOS issues and ensure safety, including, but not limited to, providing certain allowances for unique businesses or driver operations, elimination of unnecessary requirements or improved utilization of non-driving time,” the lawmakers wrote. The letter comes in the heels of the implementation of the electronic logging device mandate as the industry is calling for flexibility in such areas and sleeper berth rules and the ability to stop the 14-hour clock. A bill introduced in the House in March permit drivers to pause the 14-hour on-duty clock for up to three hours a day, although the House has not acted on the proposal. Also introduced in the House in April was an amendment to a larger bill that would allow FMCSA to more quickly enact HOS reforms by skipping a step in the rulemaking process. The amendment was later withdrawn, and a bill to allow a three-hour pause for the 14-hour clock has seen no action. FMSCA is also preparing to conduct a study on sleeper berth flexibility once it gets the go-ahead from the Office of the Secretary of Transportation. Current rules require eight consecutive hours in the sleeper berth during a 24-hour period. Many drivers say they would prefer to break up the eight hours into shorter increments.    

WASHINGTON — FMCSA Administrator Ray Martinez told a U.S. House panel Tuesday that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has made great strides in safety, noting that of the almost 300,000 driver inspections conducted on the “hard” ELD enforcement date April 1, less than 1 percent failed to have an ELD. The agency, he said, regulates more than half a million interstate motor carriers and nearly 4.7 million CDL-holders. Unfortunately, he told members of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, much more needs to be done, citing 37,461 deaths in crashes in 2016, an estimated 2,000 over 2015. In fact, fatalities increased from 2015 to 2016 in all segments of the population, including occupants of large trucks. There were 4,317 fatalities in crashes involving large trucks in 2016, 5.4 percent more than in 2015 and the highest number since 2007, Martinez said. He said FMCSA will work to bring those numbers down and will continue to hold motor carriers accountable, promote knowledgeable drivers, ensure vehicles are well maintained and encourage innovations in “sound technology to advance highway safety.” Among the agency’s accomplishments, he listed two 90-day temporary ELD waivers for agricultural industries; more than 550 educational outreach efforts on ELD requirements; and making it easier for military veterans to transition into civilian truck driving careers, including waiving the skills test for military personnel with experience operating heavy vehicles in the service. He said more than 23,000 current and former military veterans have taken advantage of the waiver. Martinez said FMCSA is also working to finalize a rulemaking to establish a training program for qualified providers at the Veterans Administration to be certified to give CMV drivers medical exams. He also mentioned FMCSA’s “under 21” pilot program to allow qualified 18-,19- or 20-year-old drivers with training and experience in certain military occupations to operate CMVs in interstate commerce. Last but not least, Martinez said the agency is working with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration in an effort to responsibly bring automated vehicles to the nation’s highways, noting that FMCSA’s Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee had met last summer and will issue recommendations later this year.

The ONE20 website says the company will go out of business June 18 and GeoSpace Labs Monday said it has stepped in to fill the ELD void. “At first we didn’t understand completely why we were getting so many conversions from ONE20 until the [ONE20] announcement on Friday,” said Mark Rupert, COO of GeoSpace Labs in a news release Monday. “We have had a huge uptick in conversions over the last several weeks from many other products, but ONE20 specifically.” ONE20 stated on its website: “We launched ONE20 Inc. in 2015 as a way for drivers to get access to the tools they need to do what they do, without spending an arm and leg. We gave it our best shot. “On June 18, 2018 ONE20 Inc. will be ceasing operations. We wish it wasn’t true but sometimes you win and sometimes you take one on the nose. This time it’s our turn. “Your ONE20 apps (ONE20 Maps, My ONE20 and ONE20 F-ELD) will NOT continue to work. “We won’t be doing any updates or offering any support. “We’ll miss you and hope that you all continue to support each other the way you always have. Who knows, maybe we’ll meet again down the road. “Keep it rubber side down, “The ONE20 Team.” The Trucker was unable to reach a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration spokesperson to comment on the situation. GeoSpace in the release said it is reducing the cost of its ELDs by $100 with a picture of the old ONE20 ELD. “Just email the picture to [email protected], along with your name and phone number so one of our sales agents can call you and get you set up on the Geowiz ELD.” GeoSpace said its single user option provides an “unlimited option ELD with no recurring monthly fee” and that two-day shipping is free and sending them the picture of the ONE20 ELD will “kickstart the process.” GeoSpace Labs is based in Lakeland Florida, and offers several types of products, from vertically integrated transportation management systems to market-wide tool kits. It has more than 17,000 users across 125,000 tracked assets.      

Last week diesel prices took an almost 7-cents-a-gallon leap and this Monday they increased nearly 4 cents, 3.8 cents to be exact. The national on-highway average as reported by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) was $3.277. The EIA last week said total liquid fuels inventories are returning to five-year average levels and that the global oil glut is over — at least for now. So, prices should continue to climb for a while although the EIA says the oil surplus will return, just not as much as previously. However, today’s diesel prices are up 73.8 cents over what they were at this time last year and all 10 of EIA’s diesel reporting regions are showing prices above the $3-a-gallon mark, with California’s prices up 4.4 cents a gallon to $3.973, and the West Coast sector up 3.4 cents a gallon to $3.765. The Gulf Coast region usually has the cheapest diesel and it still does at $3.055, having hit above $3 a gallon last week and today going up 4.3 cents more. Meanwhile, benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 1.3 percent to $72.24 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oil, added 0.9 percent to $79.22 per barrel in London, The Associated Press reported. Wholesale gasoline added 1 percent to $2.26 a gallon and heating oil rose 0.4 percent to $2.27 a gallon while natural gas fell 1.3 percent to $2.81 per 1,000 cubic feet. For diesel prices by region click here.  

    WASHINGTON — The Highway Trust Fund (HTF) is on its last legs and needs to be propped up with an ongoing influx of funds. Legislators, stakeholders and others took that message to a Coalition for America’s Gateways & Trade Corridors (CAGTC) 2018 annual meeting here May 16. Among the funding mechanisms discussed were some form of vehicle mileage tax and levying a tax on electric vehicles as revenues from the traditional federal taxes on gasoline (18.4 cents per gallon) and diesel (24.4 cents per gallon) decline with more fuel-efficient vehicles. “We need to figure out how to fix the highway trust fund — that’s a big task,” said Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., during CAGTC’s event, according to the last journal posting by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). “The [federal] fuel tax is very regressive and more and more vehicles pay very little or no fuel tax at all. And this problem is only going to get worse over time. Electric vehicles are also a problem; we need to figure out how to capture a fee from them, maybe through a surcharge, because there are more and more of them on the road. They are a thorn in this process.” Graves said “a lot of states” are working on what he described as “interesting” alternative HTF revenue projects. Yet those efforts are “boiling down into two schools of thought,” he said: tolling (“which I am not a fan of but which is on the table as an option”) and a vehicle mile tax. “There is resistance to tracking vehicles for a VMT but the interesting thing is that the kids don’t care about that — they are already tracking themselves with their [personal] technology today,” he said. “We will hopefully start finding answers because the next highway bill is around the corner.” Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., believes a VMT is going to be the option that wins out in terms of replacing HTF fuel tax revenue. “Ultimately, I think we’re going to go to a VMT and, ultimately, we’ll need a national VMT pilot program and soon,” he said. In Carper’s home state, AASHTO noted, the Delaware DOT is the lead agency in a three-month pilot program that started May 1 to explore the potential of a mileage-based user fee or “MBUF” for the I-95 Coalition. Meanwhile, the HTF needs money and needs it now, Carper said. “Raising user fees has been successful; about 30 states have raised or added user fees over last few years and 90 percent of the Republicans and Democrats who voted to implement those fees got re-elected,” he said. Jeff Davis, a senior fellow with Eno Transportation, said the Congressional Budget Office’s latest analysis indicates that the HTF “will be good through spring 2021.” And Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif., said that more “serious discussions” about the HTF need to take place in light of the trust fund’s looming sell-by date. “Do we index it [to inflation]? Raise it? Add new fees? Add more tolls [to its revenue stream]? Those are debates we need to have because whatever we do we need it to be bipartisan,” he said. Few in Congress relish such funding debates, added Graves. “I hate that we’re going to have to spend political capital in the short term to stabilize it and then have to return to it and spend more political capital to change it or replace it.”

PORTLAND, Ore. — Vigillo, a SambaSafety company and provider of real-time data for analyzing commercial driver and motor carrier safety performance, has received the National Private Truck Council (NPTC) Allied Member of the Year award. NPTC and the award program sponsor, SmartDrive Systems, presented the award during NPTC’s Annual Education Management Conference and Exhibition. “It is an honor to be named as the NPTC Allied Member of the Year,” said Steve Bryan, president and founder of Vigillo, who accepted the award along with Allison Guidette, CEO of SambaSafety. “This award is recognition of how the combination of Vigillo and SambaSafety enables capabilities that provide private fleets with the ability to address driver safety and have a positive impact on performance and compliance.” Vigillo’s commitment to private fleets has been strengthened through its acquisition in 2017 by SambaSafety, Bryan said. “The collective experience at the two companies puts talented and experienced people together and enables them to do great things for the private fleet industry,” he said. “With our solutions, private fleets have an advanced means of managing and tracking driver performance and mitigating high-risk driver behavior.” Since 1990, the NPTC Private Fleet Professional Leadership Awards have recognized individuals and companies that have positively impacted the National Private Truck Council, their profession, and the private trucking community. For more information visit www.vigillo.com. In the picture, Steve Bryan, second from right, president and founder of Vigillo, accepts the National Private Truck Council’s Allied Member of the Year award trophy. Also pictured left to right are Mike Stapleton, vice president of industry relations for Smartdrive; Allison Guidette, CEO of SambaSafety; and Gary Petty, president of NPTC.

WASHINGTON — The House Appropriations Committee has released the fiscal year 2019 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) funding bill, which it considered in subcommittee Wednesday. The legislation includes funding for the Department of Transportation, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and other related agencies. In total, the bill reflects an allocation of $71.8 billion in discretionary spending – $1.5 billion above the fiscal year 2018 enacted level and $23.8 billion above the request. The allocation reflects the second year of the bipartisan budget agreement, and again targets resources to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure, including airports, roads, bridges and rail. This funding will support critical infrastructure investments at the state and local level, and will provide needed resources for community development and essential housing programs, the committee chairman said. “For too long, the transportation infrastructure in our nation has been neglected, which has dampened growth and efficiency. This bill will provide a much-needed boost in funding for improvements in our infrastructure system, whether it is roads, rail, transit systems or air and waterways,” Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., said. “It also supports core community and housing programs to ensure shelter for our most vulnerable citizens, and to provide better opportunity for our local communities to thrive.” The bill includes $27.8 billion in discretionary appropriations for the Department of Transportation for fiscal year 2019. This is $542 million above the fiscal year 2018 enacted level and $11.7 billion above the president’s request. In total budgetary resources, including offsetting collections, the bill provides $87.8 billion to improve and maintain our nation’s transportation infrastructure. The bill targets funding to programs and projects that will increase efficiency, safety, reliability, and quality of life for the traveling public, and will help create jobs and spur The bill provides regulatory relief to industry by extending the prohibition on enforcement of the electronic logging device regulation in the case of livestock and insect haulers and facilitates interstate commerce by affirming a uniform Hours of Service rule. The bill allows $46 billion from the Highway Trust Fund to be spent on the Federal-aid Highways Program, which is $1 billion above the fiscal year 2018 level. This funding mirrors the authorized levels and will provide much-needed growth and improvements within America’s highway system. In addition, the bill provides an extra $4.25 billion in discretionary highway funding – a total increase of $2.76 billion for roads and bridges over fiscal year 2018. The legislation contains funding for the various transportation safety programs and agencies within the Department of Transportation. This includes $982 million in total budgetary resources for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) – an increase of $67 million over the fiscal year 2018 enacted level – and $666 million is included for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, as authorized under the FAST Act. Also included is $275 million for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, an increase of $3 million over the fiscal year 2018 enacted level. The committee did not issue a timetable for further discussion on the bill.    

    WALCOTT, Iowa — TravelCenters of America, operator of the TA and Petro Stopping Centers travel center brands, has named the fifth annual Citizen Driver honorees during the Citizen Driver ceremony at the Iowa 80 Trucking Museum here. Citizen Driver recognizes professional drivers who help bring respect to the truck driving profession. TravelCenters launched the Citizen Driver program in 2013 in an effort to honor “the many great, hardworking professional truck drivers who keep our economy going,” according to Barry Richards, president and COO. Citizen Drivers not only have an exemplary career in trucking, they are great examples of the kind of people who honor the great profession of truck driving by demonstrating their good citizenship, safety, community involvement and leadership, he said. Each driver has picked his or her favorite TA or Petro Stopping Center location to be named after them. Citizen Drivers will also be the recipients of individual banquets and unveiling ceremonies hosted by TA executives at their chosen locations. Citizen Drivers honorees and the location to be named after them are: Roland Bolduc, TA Branford Connecticut, “Roland Bolduc Branford Travel Center” Ingrid R. Brown, Petro, Oklahoma City, “Ingrid R. Brown Oklahoma City Stopping Center” Danny and Cindy George, TA Wheat Ridge, Colorado, “Danny and Cindy George Wheat Ridge Travel Center” Carol Wolder-Nixon , TA North Bend, Washington, “Carol Wolder-Nixon North Bend Travel Center” With this group of honorees, there are now 28 TA or Petro Stopping Centers locations across the country named to honor professional truck drivers. “It’s hard to believe we’ve been honoring such hard working men and women as part of this program for five years now,” Richards said. “We could not be more proud of the character these individuals display both on the road and off, demonstrating the true spirit and grit of a professional truck driver and we hope to continue this tradition for many years to come.” TravelCenters accepted nominations for the 2018 Citizen Drivers throughout last year, and received nominations from a wide variety of people — fleet owners and executives, other drivers, friends, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, trucking organization members, and trucking industry suppliers — wanting to recognize the deserving drivers who have touched their lives. A panel of members of the trucking community selected the honorees. The 2019 Citizen Driver nomination form, rules and other information will be posted to the TA and Petro Stopping Centers website in June 2018. Nominations will be accepted through September 30, 2018. The new honorees will be announced at the 2019 Citizen Drivers Award Ceremony. TravelCenters of America LLC, headquartered in Westlake, Ohio, offers diesel and gasoline fueling, restaurants, truck repair facilities, convenience stores and other services in 43 states and in Canada, principally under the TA and Petro Stopping Centers travel center brands and the Minit Mart convenience store brand. For more information on TravelCenters, TA, and Petro Stopping Centers, visit www.ta-petro.com. For more information on Minit Mart, visit www.minitmart.com.    

KENNESAW, Ga.  — Traffic is moving again on Interstate 75 north of Atlanta after authorities cleared up debris from a tractor-trailer that overturned with 19 cows. Media reports on how many cows were killed, but there was a minimum of seven killed, maybe as high as 10. News outlets report traffic was snarled for hours Thursday morning as surviving cows wandered the roadway after the crash on Interstate 75 in Kennesaw. Cobb County police Sgt. Wayne Delk says the Georgia State Patrol and Highway Emergency Response Operators helped corral the animals on the side of the road. The truck was towed away from the scene at 7 a.m., around two hours after it tipped over. The interstate reopened after that. The living cows were taken away to an undisclosed location. Delk says the condition of the truck driver is currently not known. It’s unclear how the truck tipped over. It took almost two hours for crews to upright the overturned cattle trailer and re-open some of the southbound lanes Thursday morning, according to a report on television station WSB.. The surviving cows calmly munched on some breakfast in the grassy shoulder. The meal was short-lived, lasting only until another truck could be brought in and the cattle herded onto another trailer. They were then taken to a sales pen in north Georgia. Cobb County police said they are investigating the cause of the crash.  

BELTON, Texas — Testimony was wrapping up Thursday in the murder trial of Stanley Polk Jr., charged with the murder in August 27, 2015, stabbing death of Ronald Ruiz, 62, a truck driver from South Bend, Indiana. Ruiz, who drove for Werner Enterprises, was Polk’s trainer. Sgt. Robert McClinton of the Bell County Sheriff’s Department found and arrested Polk and it was recorded on his dash cam. Polk stands accused of killing Ruiz at a rest area in Salado, Texas. Polk reportedly stabbed Ruiz a total of 17 times in the chest, stomach and leg in his truck. According to an arrest affidavit, police were called to the rest stop on Interstate 35 about 7 p.m. in reference to a man who had been stabbed. When they arrived, officers said they observed Ruiz “bleeding from stab wounds on his chest and arm. Witnesses at the rest area were attempting to apply pressure to the victim’s wounds,” the affidavit said. One witness described the scene immediately after Ruiz was stabbed, telling officers she saw the victim being held by the left hand and stabbed by another man inside of a Werner truck that the witness was parked next to. The witness reported that the victim was yelling, “Help! Help!” after which the witness said Ruiz escaped and started to run. According to media reports, Ruiz had warned Werner about Polk, telling company officials there was “something off about this guy” and “he really wanted him off the truck.” Ruiz’s daughter told a Bell County television station that Werner advised Ruiz to “hang tight” until they arrived at their destination in Indianapolis, but the two would never arrive. Police spoke to a witness at the rest stop “who stated that he was in the restroom at the rest area when he observed an unknown black male run into the restroom with blood on his hands,” the affidavit said. “The witness stated that the unknown black male washed his hands in the sink then pulled out a bloody knife and began washing the knife.”        

  The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that the world oil glut in place since 2015-2016 has evened out, bringing the price of oil up and diesel along with it. In other words, world consumption of oil and its derivatives has gradually overtaken oil supplies, at least for now. EIA reported today that total world petroleum and other liquids consumption increased by an estimated 1.9 million barrels a day (b/d) between the first quarters of 2017 and 2018, exceeding the growth in production and resulting in inventory declines. This consumption growth occurred primarily in the United States (0.6 million b/d), China (0.5 million b/d), and other Asian countries not in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development or OECD (0.6 million b/d). The EIA says total liquid fuels inventories are returning to five-year average levels in the United States and the OECD countries. Between January 2017 and April 2017, U.S. and OECD crude oil days of supply fell by 11.5 and 4.5 days, respectively, to 59.2 and 60.6 days. U.S. crude oil and other liquids days of supply fell from 12 days higher than the five-year average to 3.6 days lower. OECD crude oil and other liquids days of supply dropped from 7.4 days higher than the five-year average to 1.6 days lower. The U.S. average diesel fuel price increased nearly 7 cents to $3.24 per gallon on May 14, nearly 70 cents higher than a year ago. Midwest prices rose over 8 cents to almost $3.18 per gallon, West Coast and Rocky Mountain prices each rose nearly 7 cents to $3.73 per gallon and $3.32 per gallon, respectively, and East Coast and Gulf Coast prices each rose nearly 6 cents to $3.24 per gallon and $3.01 per gallon, respectively. However, EIA says an oil surplus will return, just not as big a one as that encountered previously. In its “May 2018 Short-Term Energy Outlook,” EIA predicted that both U.S. and OECD petroleum and other liquids inventories will return to surpluses compared with their five-year averages, “although on a smaller scale compared with the period between 2015 and 2016.” As always, however, there is additional uncertainty about future global oil market balances because of such things as the U.S. withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and the continued instability in Venezuela, EIA notes. (Photo ©2018Fotosearch)

PHOENIX — PrePass-approved trucks will soon receive the green light to bypass weigh stations in a number of new locations, according to HELP Inc., the nonprofit provider of PrePass. Over the past year, HELP’s Board of Directors has approved new sites in Indiana, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin. PrePass weigh station bypass service is offered by HELP Inc., a public private partnership serving the trucking industry and state safety agencies to promote highway safety and efficiency in commercial transportation, according to CEO Karen Rasmussen. Through agreements with 31 states, HELP is providing the weigh station bypass technology, equipment and comprehensive systems for each of the additional sites, at no cost to taxpayers. New sites are: Indiana: Seymour northbound I-65 Michigan: Grass Lake eastbound and westbound I-94, and Pontiac southbound I-75 Montana: Ramsay eastbound I-90 North Carolina: Charlotte southbound I-85, Gaston County northbound I-85 and Mount Airy northbound I-77. New Mexico: Texico WB US60/70/84 Oklahoma: Love County NB I-35 Texas: Kingsbury (Seguin) eastbound I-10, and Wisconsin: Kenosha northbound I-94 and Sparta eastbound I-90. Rasmussen said that in addition to the newly-approved sites, equipment upgrades and new weigh-in-motion (WIM) scales are in operation in Missouri (Bloomsdale southbound 1-55) and New Mexico (Gallup eastbound I-40). HELP will also be providing new WIMs for Montana at Broadus (eastbound and westbound U.S. 212) and will be integrating PrePass with WIMs in Arkansas at Riverside (I-40 westbound) and Bridgeport (I-55 northbound). Also in Missouri, HELP has upgraded sensors and electrical networks that support WIMs at eight weigh stations to ensure they are accurate for truck weight screening. The biggest benefit of these upgrades is that carriers won’t have to go into the weigh station to be weighed on a static scale when the WIM shows gross and axle weights to be within limit, Rasmussen said. “Nationwide, the cost of diesel fuel is over $3 a gallon for the first time in several years,” she said. Safe weigh station bypassing means significant fuel savings that flow directly to a carrier’s bottom line. “Meanwhile, states have a primary responsibility to ensure those operating on their roads are safe,” she said. “HELP is proud to partner with states on new opportunities for safe drivers to continue moving freight at highway speeds, while allowing officials to focus on other commercial vehicles that need the most attention.” In addition to weigh station bypass, HELP also offers electronic toll payment options through PrePass Plus. Both services include INFORM, a data management suite that helps fleets understand and take action to improve their safety scores and reduce tolling impacts at no additional cost. Nearly 570,000 trucks utilize the PrePass weigh station bypass service throughout the U.S. In addition, more than 110,000 PrePass vehicles are also bypassing at 44 new sites in Oregon and the NORPASS states through a partnership between HELP and the Oregon and Washington departments of transportation.